Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh notes that Amazon (AMZN) Business announced the launch of the Amazon Professional Beauty store and that he spoke with Sally Beauty (SBH) management. Given the exclusivity the BSG side of the business has with key brands, the analyst think announcement would have a minimal nearer-term impact on Sally's business. Nonetheless, Parikh believes Amazon's entrance and interest in the category will likely continue to depress Sally Beauty's multiple to even lower levels until the company can demonstrate the ability to return to positive comp growth on a sustainable base. For now, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and Estee Lauder (EL) remain his top beauty picks. The analyst has a Perform rating on Sally Beauty's shares.

07/19/19

STFL

07/19/19NO CHANGETarget $205STFLBuy

Estee Lauder price target raised to $205 from $180 at Stifel

Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan raised his price target on Estee Lauder to $205 from $180 after raising his FY20 and FY21 sales and EPS expectations. His deep dive on Estee Lauder's cost structure makes him believe long-term expectations for 50 basis points of yearly operating margin expansion is conservative and he also views long-term sales growth of 6%-8% as reasonable, Astrachan tells investors. He keeps a Buy rating on Estee Lauder shares.

08/12/19

PIPR

08/12/19NO CHANGETarget $187PIPROverweight

Estee Lauder price target raised to $187 from $178 at Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy raised her price target for Estee Lauder to $187 from $178 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The analyst increased her Q4 estimates as she believes Estee can continue to gain share globally against the overall beauty category growing ~6%. For Q4, she expects outperformance to be driven by travel retail, skincare and China.

08/14/19

MACQ

08/14/19NO CHANGETarget $195MACQOutperform

Estee Lauder expected to guide cautiously for FY20, says Macquarie

Macquarie analyst Caroline Levy said she believes Estee Lauder will report "solid" Q4 results on Monday, August 19, and she also expects the company to guide cautiously for FY20, following "its typical pattern." The analyst, who thinks Estee Lauder will set low expectations, and then likely over deliver, keeps an Outperform rating and $195 price target on the stock.

Technology & Internet Analyst Seyrafi holds a group luncheon meeting with Scott Gifis, President of AdRoll, a key re-targeting company that is a top buyer on Facebook, Google AdX and a key partner with Twitter, Pinterest, and others, in New York on September 24 at 12 pm hosted by FBN Securities.

Following Apple's (AAPL) Special Event, investors seemed to only care about Apple TV+'s unexpectedly low price, with stocks of streaming rivals like Netflix (NFLX) and Disney (DIS) quickly falling on potential unforeseen risks to competition, Tae Kim writes in this week's edition of Barron's. While the $4.99 a month price for Apple TV+ looks appealing, it may not be so attractive once consumers consider the number of shows the service will offer, the author contends, adding that the small lineup offered actually makes Apple TV+ look pricey compared with the competition. Reference Link

United Airlines stock has been range bound for much of the past year, as investors fretted about its ability to weather the impact of higher oil prices and potentially slowing growth, Ben Levisohn writes in this week's edition of Barron's. But the stock is just too cheap and may get a boost after a short squeeze, the publication notes. Reference Link

Amid talk of a coming recession and expectations that the Federal Reserve is about to lower interest rates again - theoretically crimping financial stocks - it is important to remember that buying stuff that is wildly out of favor, such as Bank of America's stock, is historically a great way to make money, Steven Sears writes in this week's edition of Barron's. Reference Link

Even in a rough year for retail stocks, Tapestry - the holding company that owns Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman - stands out as a flop, with shares down 25% in 2019, Avi Salzman writes in this week's edition of Barron's. The stock's recent weakness, however, opens an opportunity, the author contends, adding that investors should have more confidence in Tapestry's cash flow, which has help up. Reference Link

Amerco (UHAL), owner of U-Haul, is one of the "better-kept secrets" in the stock market as it has virtually no analyst coverage, communicates little with investors, and is run like a private business by controlling Shoen family, Andrew Bary writes in this week's edition of Barron's. Trading at $380, the shares look appealing after having been stuck in a range of $325-$400 for most of the past four years, the author notes. Reference Link

North American railroads like CSX (CSX), Union Pacific (UNP) and Canadian National Railway (CNI) have been Wall Street favorites, but freight volumes are declining amid worries over an economic slowdown and a trade war, price competition from truckers is pressuring rail rates and the railroads last hope for continued profit growth is efficiency gains, Bill Alpert writes in this week's edition of Barron's. However, there are limits to efficiency strategy as evident in Canada, where precision scheduled railroading was pioneered a decade ago on the long-haul runs of Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), the author notes. Reference Link

Aimmune Therapeutics announced that the Allergenic Products Advisory Committee, or APAC, convened by the FDA voted to support the use of AR101, proposed trade name Palforzia, in children and teens with peanut allergy. Palforzia is a complex, biologic oral immunotherapy candidate designed to reduce the incidence and severity of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, after accidental exposure to peanut in patients aged 4 through 17 years with a confirmed diagnosis of peanut allergy. The APAC voted 7 to 2 that the efficacy data and 8 to 1 that the safety data, in conjunction with additional safeguards, are adequate to support the use of Palforzia.

AT&T's (T) CNN will stop hosting advertisements from Juul, which is 35% owned by Altria (MO) and other e-cigarette brands following concerns over an illness that has affected users of vaping products, the Daily Beast's Maxwell Tani reports. During a Tuesday town-hall meeting with CNN employees, network head Jeff Zucker said in response to a question about the company's advertising deal with Juul that the network will not allow Juul or other vaping brands to buy ads moving forward, Tani reports, citing several network sources. A CNN spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Beast that it will no longer allow e-cigarette ads, but will leave the door open to reverse course if research shows vaping products are not harmful. Reference Link

Basic Energy Services announced that T.M. "Roe" Patterson, the company's president and CEO and a member of its board, notified the company that he plans to transition away from the company to pursue other business opportunities. The company has begun an executive search for a new CEO. Patterson will continue to serve as president and CEO of Basic, and as a member of the board, while the company conducts a search for his successor, and will remain with Basic in an advisory capacity for a period of time after his replacement is chosen to facilitate an orderly transition. Once his successor is chosen, Patterson will resign from his position on the board as well. Additionally, the company announced that Julio Quintana, a current independent director of the company, will take on the additional role of chairman of the board, effective September 13. Quintana became a member of the board in 2016. Timothy Day, who has served as a member of the board and chairman since 2016, will continue to serve as a director of the company and as chair of the Compensation Committee of the Board.

Philips has been awarded a maximum $400M fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for digital imaging network picture archiving communications system products and maintenance. This was a competitive acquisition with ten offers received. This is the seventh contract competitively awarded under the open solicitation. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Locations of performance are California and other areas located within and outside the continental U.S., with a September. 12, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is FY19 through FY24 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency.

Raytheon was awarded a $427.3M contract for procurement of common sensor payload systems, spare parts and engineering and system support services. One bid was were solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of September 12, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced that it has entered into an Open Market Sales Agreement with Jefferies pursuant to which the company may from time to time sell, through at-the-market offerings with Jefferies acting as sales agent, such common shares as would have an aggregate offer price of up to $40M.